Fractale

ussjtrunks · 14-01-2011 6:50pm #1

Just saw Fractale and it has some serious potential to be good, definately going to watch it but I found having Salley gardens as the ED theme kinda odd, Do japanese really like Irish songs?

Funky · 14-01-2011 7:49pm

Yea just watched it today too, I noticed the random police car in the episode had "Garda" on the side too

Numina · 14-01-2011 9:01pm

Surreal, isn't it?

Konata · 14-01-2011 9:17pm

Ha, that's crazy! Most of them are prolly like WTF is GARDA? :P

Varik · 14-01-2011 10:28pm

How did i miss all that i noticed that the ending song was a Yeats poem but missed that.

GARDA would come out as guard or close when pressed with the limited Japanese phonetics

Headshot · 14-01-2011 11:42pm

Im suprised to learn Fractale is based in ireland

DonQuigleone · 15-01-2011 1:58am

The Garda car isn't the only thing about that's distinctly Irish:

1. The Gardai shown have fairly accurate uniforms, particularly the hat has the Garda coat of arms on it
2. The father says he lives in Luimnigh (IE Limerick), why they went with the Irish and not the English I don't know. Rule of Cool I guess.
3. The house is fairly typical of houses out west.
4. Clein doesn't remove his shoes when he enters the house, and the house has no entry area like a Japanese home (this is more indicative it's outside Japan)
5. The aforementioned Searbh on his drink.
6. The scenery is a pretty accurate representation of the west coast, like around the cliffs of moher, even down to the stone walls.
7. The church is a copy of an Irish Church, see this image, The graves are slightly different, but the main building itself is identical, which is pretty nifty. The church in question is in the Aran Islands

It might be fun to come up with a list of everything "Irish" about this series. Given the fact that the church in this episode is an exact copy of a real church, I wonder if any of the other buildings, shots are likewise copies of real life locations? Kyoto Animation famously did that with several of their series, and many of those locations started to draw otaku tourists. Will Inishmore see a sudden jump in tourists from Japan? Will Clein and Phrynne dolls be sold alongside shilelaghs and plaid in small cottages across the west? I suppose it depends on whether or not it does well...

Still, it can only be good advertising, Noitamina gets pretty good ratings, usually.

Anyone up for spotting more "Irish stuff" as the series progresses, if anyone actually lives out west, investigating whether or not the locations depicted are real or not would also be pretty cool.

DingChavez · 16-01-2011 4:16pm

It seems to be based on Inishmore. The houses there look the same too. You could probably find the exact locations if you looked.

cherryghost · 18-01-2011 10:39am

Watched Fractale there, lawd is it Irish!

Varik · 20-01-2011 10:17pm

Fractale has had it English release cancelled as apparently the way to stop piracy of the legal streams it to stop them and leave only fansubs left.

Sesshoumaru · 21-01-2011 12:08pm

I watched episode 01 of Fractale last night, very promising. I used to spend a lot of time on Inishmore as I have family there. The old church in the anime looks exactly like the one I used to play in as a kid

DonQuigleone · 22-01-2011 8:12am

So I watched Fractale 2 today, and everything still points to Ireland (note the celtic knots all over the place, like the weird church place at the beginning).

Anyway, more interestingly is trying to figure out if the town featured is a real one. The clock tower is fairly unique, and similiarish to photos of the galway clock tower, but I'm not sure about the rest. There's also shots of a canal. Anyone have any ideas? All of Episode 1 seems to be in and around Inishmore, Where this episode takes place I have no idea.

Also some shots of the cliffs of Moher (I think) early on while they cycle, so I don't think they're paying too much to feasible travelling times, which I don't really mind, makes for more interesting stuff to see, I guess.

DingChavez · 22-01-2011 12:01pm

DonQuigleone wrote: »

So I watched Fractale 2 today, and everything still points to Ireland (note the celtic knots all over the place, like the weird church place at the beginning).

Anyway, more interestingly is trying to figure out if the town featured is a real one. The clock tower is fairly unique, and similiarish to photos of the galway clock tower, but I'm not sure about the rest. There's also shots of a canal. Anyone have any ideas? All of Episode 1 seems to be in and around Inishmore, Where this episode takes place I have no idea.

Also some shots of the cliffs of Moher (I think) early on while they cycle, so I don't think they're paying too much to feasible travelling times, which I don't really mind, makes for more interesting stuff to see, I guess.

Seemed to be Galway with a few changes.

Mill Street Garda Station:

DonQuigleone · 22-01-2011 12:11pm

DingChavez wrote: »

Seemed to be Galway with a few changes.

Mill Street Garda Station:

The garda Station seems to be a fair match, though the rest of the town seems less accurate, does Galway have an area matching the scene near the stream/canal? That shot seemed similiar enough to somewhere near the grand canal in Dublin, though it's likely somewhere else.

DonQuigleone · 22-01-2011 3:07pm

Then it's Galway, I thought as much, the clock tower is kinda similiar.

Sairus · 27-01-2011 2:47am

It's definitely Galway in Fractale

I used to live there so I recognised it from the first shot of them walking past the alley - that got quite a giggle out of me.
One of the signs on the street even says "GLWAY"

They took some liberties with the arrangement of Shop Street, but here's a few comparison shots. I'll be back in Galway on Sunday and I plan on getting some proper photos of all the locations for the craic.

The canals just off Mill Street. Notice the Cathedral in the background.

Church Lane, just off Shop Street. (The angle in the show is looking out from the alley, Google Street View is looking in)

The previously shown Mills Street Garda Station. The interior shot of the building in the show is actually a perfect recreation too!

The famous RYANS sign on Shop Street :pac:

Sairus · 27-01-2011 2:47am

Here's where the changes start appearing. Everything is correct except for the placement of the church, which is actually directly behind the pharmacy on the right
There's actually an earlier shot in the anime looking the other direction down this street which follows the street plan in Galway exactly, but the buildings are drawn differently. (They even have the RYANS sign in the earlier shot, but it's painted green and has GLWAY written on it)

And finally St. Nicholas's Church - or at least the main steeple.

There are some other locations, like the metal crane statue that is just down the road from the canals, but I didn't screencap any of them for the moment.

Woops, forgot to crop out the top of firefox in those last shots... now you all know of my terrible addiction to browsing the Pokédexs on Serebii!

spinandscribble · 04-02-2011 5:47pm

Anyone see this new anime Fractale? its on its 4th episode and i've only started watching the first one and 2 minutes in theres the gardai car and the proper uniform. Not sure whats going on yet.

Konata · 04-02-2011 6:02pm

spinandscribble wrote: »

Anyone see this new anime Fractale? its on its 4th episode and i've only started watching the first one and 2 minutes in theres the gardai car and the proper uniform. Not sure whats going on yet.

There's already been quite a good discussion of Fractale on this forum. I've now taken those posts from the Winter Anime 10/11 thread and created this thread specifically for discussion of Fractale.

So there ya go

spinandscribble · 04-02-2011 7:00pm

WOW thats so creepy, I know can't wait to see the rest of the anime as I'm from galway. Freaky!

Madjackjr · 06-02-2011 12:33pm

i was wondering when this tread would get started

Sairus · 31-03-2011 8:43pm

Meant to put these up a while ago, but Fractale's lack of new Irish locations made me forget about em XD
I was in Galway a few weeks ago and tried to get photos from the same angles as the shots in the show.
The one of the Canals was printed in the Galway Advertiser this week, but the bastards never credited me :pac:

Sairus · 31-03-2011 8:43pm

Konata · 31-03-2011 9:20pm

They're awesome pics Sairus, cheers

DonQuigleone · 31-03-2011 9:25pm

Hmm, perhaps we should get these images into the general Anime blogosphere...

yermanoffthetv · 01-04-2011 12:53am

Dublins in there too. Nowhere near as accurate as Galway but you can notice a few landmarks such as the national conference center and the grand canal theatre. I threw in a few captures so you can have a gawk.

DonQuigleone · 01-04-2011 12:57am

yermanoffthetv wrote: »

Dublins in there too. Nowhere near as accurate as Galway but you can notice a few landmarks such as the national conference center and the grand canal theatre. I threw in a few captures so you can have a gawk.

You're right, that is the new docklands redevelopment!

the 3rd one really clinches it, the checkerboard pattern is very distinctive.

Sairus · 01-04-2011 12:13pm

DonQuigleone wrote: »

You're right, that is the new docklands redevelopment!

the 3rd one really clinches it, the checkerboard pattern is very distinctive.

There was a bunch of shots in that episode that tickled my memory but I couldn't figure out where I'd seen them before! Good stuff!

DonQuigleone · 01-04-2011 12:28pm

It's pretty impressive that they were aware of it. The docklands is quite new.

Sairus · 01-04-2011 12:30pm

DonQuigleone wrote: »

It's pretty impressive that they were aware of it. The docklands is quite new.

It seems they went to ridiculous effort for this show. I mean, they recreated the inside of the Galway Garda Station right down to the little blue sticker on the glass panel

MarkMI6 · 01-04-2011 3:44pm

Great pics Sairus! I knew it was modelled off parts of Galway and Inishmore but I had no idea it was that accurate. That's actually pretty creepy they'd go to such lengths

Bottleopener · 02-04-2011 6:12pm

The lengths the creators of that show went to to get accuracy is pretty awesome :P.

Awesome stuff Sairus.

gearoidof · 03-04-2011 12:31am

What a terrible ending...

This anime really had the wrong priorities, like, we appreciate their attention to detail, but come on, needs a better plot...

Sairus · 03-04-2011 12:48pm

Yar, the ending was a bit bad alright. The final episode had some great moments, but the overall ending was a bit all over the place.

Dias suicide bombing Moeran was great - especially that Moeran knew she was dead as soon as he arrived and didn't put up any resistence. I also liked the part during the credits and the ambiguity with Phryne's waking, and the flashback showing her as a child pre-Fractale. The rest of the episode, not so much.
The way it turned out that Lost Millenium's goal wasn't to actually destroy Fractale was particularly bad. That came out of nowhere and didn't actually make much sense.

All in all, a decent anime with really nice visuals let down by the all too common crazy anime ending.

Sairus · 03-04-2011 3:15pm

Actually, on further thought, the ending did actually make sense!

Phyrne only restarted the Fractale System because Nessa was going to die if she didn't. She didn't explicitly want Fractale to start up again - it was just a necessary part of her plan.
Lost Millenium's about face also made sense. They didn't actually disapprove of Fractale - they were only against the Temple. By destroying the Temple, no one is forced to use Fractale anymore and no one gets brainwashed. People are free to live however way they want - with Fractale or without.

The episode was still a bit odd, but after some thought I'm actually pretty satisfied with the conclusion!

Numina · 03-04-2011 5:14pm

This series was like watching a balloon deflate.

DingChavez · 04-04-2011 8:17am

What? You'd like an actual explanation of Fractale's origin?

TOO BAD YOU'RE GETTING SCHOOLGIRL RAPE VICTIMS AND NOTING ELSE!

Nollog · 05-04-2011 12:41am

Impressive comparisons to Galway and elsewhere in this thread.

Can't comment on the series as I stopped watching 6 episodes ago.
It didn't seem good enough to warrant the 7 day wait in between mediocre episodes.
Now that's finished I'll watch the rest.

Butterscotch · 08-04-2011 9:32pm

Wow I just saw this now and I found this amazing. It is really cool that Japanese animators took an interest in Ireland. I am going to check this series out now.

There are alot more Irish references in anime then you think like in Full Mental Panic the ship is called Taoth Dun Dana (sorry if it is spelled wrong), the anime Comedy is suppose to be set in Ireland, I believe a Gundam series had a scene set in Dublin, in Durrara there is an Irish Celtic goddess, gah I could go on forever.:P It is fascinating.

Konata · 08-04-2011 9:41pm

Butterscotch wrote: »

Wow I just saw this now and I found this amazing. It is really cool that Japanese animators took an interest in Ireland. I am going to check this series out now.

There are alot more Irish references in anime then you think like in Full Mental Panic the ship is called Taoth Dun Dana (sorry if it is spelled wrong), the anime Comedy is suppose to be set in Ireland, I believe a Gundam series had a scene set in Dublin, in Durrara there is an Irish Celtic goddess, gah I could go on forever.:P It is fascinating.

Ooooh I know another one! The "Geass" in Code Geass comes from the Irish word "geis":

In Irish mythology and folklore, a geis (Irish pronunciation: [ˈɟɛʃ]; English: /ˈɡɛʃ/; plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell.

Yay Ireland

DonQuigleone · 08-04-2011 10:54pm

Konata wrote: »

Ooooh I know another one! The "Geass" in Code Geass comes from the Irish word "geis":

I have a feeling that the Geass in code Geass probably came from "Geas" in D&D, but of course D&D probably got it from Ireland so...

@Butterscotch: I was aware of those, perhaps it's me being biased, but I've always had a feeling that Anime got more from Ireland then, say, from Britain. That said the number of references to Germany dwarfs everyone.

EDIT: How bout this guy?

Konata · 08-04-2011 10:59pm

DonQuigleone wrote: »

I have a feeling that the Geass in code Geass probably came from "Geas" in D&D, but of course D&D probably got it from Ireland so...

From the Code Geass wiki (I've read it in a few other places too):

Geass originates in Gaelic mythology and is in many ways analogous to the Greek and Roman concept of the tragic flaw. One of the first and best known heroes subject to a Geass is the central character of an Irish mythology Ulster Cycle, Cú Chulainn. He was subject to a 'Geis' of being forbidden to eat dog meat by his enemies. But in early Ireland there was a powerful general taboo against refusing hospitality, so when an old crone offers him a meal of dog meat, he has no choice to break his Geis. In this way he is spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him.
In Code Geass, Geass is a power given to Lelouch by the mysterious C.C., it allows him to force others to do his will to certain limitations. The similiarity to the Geis concept is evident and presumably the reason behind its name.

Dunno anything about D&D though :P

DonQuigleone · 08-04-2011 11:03pm

Konata wrote: »

From the Code Geass wiki (I've read it in a few other places too):

Geass originates in Gaelic mythology and is in many ways analogous to the Greek and Roman concept of the tragic flaw. One of the first and best known heroes subject to a Geass is the central character of an Irish mythology Ulster Cycle, Cú Chulainn. He was subject to a 'Geis' of being forbidden to eat dog meat by his enemies. But in early Ireland there was a powerful general taboo against refusing hospitality, so when an old crone offers him a meal of dog meat, he has no choice to break his Geis. In this way he is spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him.
In Code Geass, Geass is a power given to Lelouch by the mysterious C.C., it allows him to force others to do his will to certain limitations. The similiarity to the Geis concept is evident and presumably the reason behind its name.

Dunno anything about D&D though :P

Geas is a spell in D&D which allows you to force someone to do anything you want. I say this only because I heard of the term "Geas" from there first too, and I'd say within these Anime production companies there are enough nerds who would be familiar with D&D.

I could be entirely wrong though. Anime tends to also demonstrate a knowledge of world mythology too so...

Konata · 08-04-2011 11:04pm

Guess they're all a bit mad for the aul Irish mythology so!

Fremen · 08-04-2011 11:06pm

Numina wrote: »

Surreal, isn't it?

Why has no-one else remarked on the fact that there's a big purple willy in front of the garda car?

KingLoser · 19-04-2011 4:16pm

I had a comparison for this show, but it's all gone out the window since I've seen the Galway pics, there is no doubt that this show's setting is based on g-g-g-galway, but here ye go anyway!

Numina · 21-04-2011 3:51pm

Fremen wrote: »

Why has no-one else remarked on the fact that there's a big purple willy in front of the garda car?

Y'know, they actually make dildos in that exact shape.

yermanoffthetv · 23-04-2011 2:15am

Butterscotch wrote: »

I believe a Gundam series had a scene set in Dublin.

More like 3 episodes, Dublin ends up being nuked by a colony ship!

OniKen · 05-06-2011 11:12am

Fractile was very good, loved the outro. Unfortunatly alot of Japanese people don't know Ireland exists (Some people just see ireland and england as 'The UK')

Fractale

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